Toronto

Toronto is the nearest large city to Rochester, and can be reached, depending on weather, traffic, and border conditions, in 3 to 4 hours. The most direct route is I-90 West to I-290 West, taking through Buffalo's northern suburbs, to I-190 North across Grand Island and around Niagara Falls to the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge. Once across the border, Highway 405 connects directly with the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) which runs all the way to Toronto.

"T-Dot" is slang for Toronto. Some of Toronto's other nicknames are "Hogtown" and "The Big Smoke." Be cool and sound like a local: The area known as "Etobicoke" is pronounced "Et-toe-beh-coe." "Bloor" (as in Bloor Street) does not rhyme with "floor" but is pronounced something closer to "blue-er."

Frequent reasons for Rochesterians and other Upstate New Yorkers to visit Toronto:

• IKEA (4 in the Toronto area, 2 of which you will pass on your drive there)
  

• Major League Baseball (especially Yankees games) at the Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome).
  

• Hockey Hall of Fame
  

• Concerts that don't come to Buffalo or Rochester
  

• Decent Theater (or, if you prefer, Theatre)
  

• The novel experience of being on a street crowded with pedestrians
  

• The nostalgic experience of being able to shop at a downtown department store
  

• Riding a subway and/or streetcar
  

• Seeing buildings taller than 30 stories

• Please, don't be a hayseed tourist from the sticks. Skip Eaton Centre and the CN Tower. Get away from Yonge Street. Explore Toronto's incredible neighborhoods: the Beach (which might serve as an inspiration to our poor misguided residents of Charlotte that shops and houses along the water instead of windswept parking lots can actually be very cool), Roncesvalles, Bloor West Village, Yorkville, Greektown (the Danforth), Little Italy (College Street), Corso Italia (St. Clair West), India Bazaar (Gerrard East), Rua Acores (Dundas West), Chinatown West (Spadina and Dundas), Chinatown East (Gerrard and Broadview), Cabbagetown, the Distillery District, Queen West, West Queen West, Kensington Market, St. Lawrence Market, the Toronto Islands, North Toronto.
  

• Check out the Music Gallery, a "centre for the creation and performance of new music and music-related arts."
  

• Visit IKEA on the drive back. Not hard to miss off the QEW in either Etobicoke or Burlington.
  

• Go to the top of the CN Tower, where on a clear day you can see for 100 miles.
  

• Must see: Pacific Mall, a Chinese shopping centre with over 400 mini-shops! Food Court. Very cool place. Note: hard to get to by public transit, it's located in suburban Markham. Wikipedia Entry

Also see: The Rochester Mirage, Ferry Bad Place Article